One can be forgiven wondering what the connection between these
foretellings might be. Daniel's vision comes 48 years after Nebuchadnezzar's
dream of the "Colossus", and John's revelation is many years after
both. Nebuchadnezzar was the first and greatest King of Babylon
who foresaw a succession of 4 great world empires beginning with
his own. He was unable to interpret his dream which Daniel, the
prophet, deciphered for him. It is interesting to note as Clarence
Larkin points out, man views these great empires (seen through
Nebuchadnezzar's dream) in terms of power, strength and wealth.
God views them (seen through Daniel's vision) as wild, rapacious
beasts greedily devouring each other. With each successive empire,
comes the loss of both wealth and stature. The Colossus' first
body part is the Golden Head. Working down to the bottom of the
image, the Feet, are a mixture of clay and iron. In the same vein,
Daniel's beast begins as a mighty lion and degenerates into a
terrible monster. John's single beast is a composite of the preceding 4 great world kingdoms which is why it doesn't
address each beast separately.

To help tie symbology together, the same colors have been used
to indicate the same country, empire or person, or to show similar
features between Daniel's and John's beasts. For example, Nebuchadnezzar's
golden head of the Colossus is the same as Daniel's First Beast who is like a lion, both of which designate the Babylonian Empire. For John, this element is represented by the mouth of the lion as part of his "composite" Beast of the Sea. In our times, this becomes the Revived Roman Empire and the Antichrist. Another example of similarities between beasts is Daniel's Third Beast who looks like a leopardandJohn's composite beast whose body waslike a leopard.

Lest you think Stan and I are "mighty thinkers", we want to dispel
those thoughts; we are simply ongoing students. In addition to
many hours studying Revelation, Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel and the
Gospels, we have also sifted through the commentaries of Clarence
Larken, Henry Morris and Tim LaHaye. We are in awe of their interpretive
skills and pioneering efforts and have factored in some of their
data. Many have put their hand to this task, but these gentlemen
do it with a clarity second to none. Ooops, can't forget Unger's
Bible Dictionary! All of these works help to interpret "these
times".

Stan and I are not dogmatic as you will see in the Tribulation
Timeline we've put together evidenced by two possible locations for the Rapture. However, we lean strongest toward pre-Trib Rapture.
It is more than wishful thinking; it's based on scriptural clues.

Unfortunately, scripture is not 100% clear cut on some of this
issue. Most of us would like concrete answers and where they are
not possible, we remain open to other viewpoints. Though we have
made every effort to be correct and support positions scripturally,
we are reserve the right to be wrong. <g>

NEBACHUD-
NEZZAR'S DREAM(Dan 2:31-45)

DANIEL'S
VISION(Dan 7 and 8)

DESCRIBES

JOHN'S
REVELATION(Rev 13:1-7)

DESCRIBES

Colossus/
Great Image

4 Great Beasts
From The Sea

.

The Beast-
Latter Days

.

Golden Head
(Dan 2:37-38)

First Beast

like a lionwith eagle's wings, standing on feet as a man, with a man's heart

(Dan 7:4)

BabylonianEmpireBC 606 - BC 538

Seen as a part of
Beast From the Sea
below

Silver Breast & Arms

(Dan 2:39, 5:28, 8:20)

Second Beast

like a bear raised on one arm, has 3 ribs (Lydia, Babylon, Egypt) in its
mouth, told "Arise, devour much flesh".

(Dan 7:5)

Medo-Persian Empire
BC 538 - 530

Seen as a part of
Beast From the Sea
below

Brass Belly & Thighs

(Dan 2:39)

Third Beast

like a leopard, with 4 wings of a fowl and 4 heads (Thrace, Syria, Egypt, Macedonia)

(Dan 7:6)

Grecian Empire

BC 530 - BC 323

In 10 years Greece through off all Persian rule and subdued the
"civilized" world and sub-sequently divided into Thrace, Syria, Egypt, Macedonia

Seen as a part of
Beast From the Sea
below

Legs of Iron
(Dan 2:40)

Feet of iron and clay

(Dan 2:41-43)

Ten Toes
(Dan 2:44)

Fourth Beast

comesfrom the sea, unlike anything else, dreadful, terrible, exceedingly strong,
iron teeth, brass nails. It devoured, broke in pieces, "stamped
the residue" of the other 3 beasts.Has 10 horns, and a little horn rises andplucks 3 horns out by the roots. Wears out the Saints,has mouth speaking great words against God, think to (tries to) change the times (calendar) and the law,has power 3-1/2 years.

(Dan 7:7-8)

Old Roman
Empire
BC 30 - AD 364

Power was lost when it was divided into the Roman and Greek Orthodox
churches. Power may have ceased, but never its influence. Roman
law is still a control-ling force in our laws.

Beast From The Sea

rises from the sea, has 7 headsand 10 horns (10 kings) and on his horns are 10 crowns and on his heads names of blasphemy.
This beast has the body of a leopard, feet of a bear, mouth of a lion. Dragon (Satan) gave him his power, seat (throne) and great authority.
Survives "deadly" head wound and counterfeits Christ's resur-rection
and which Satan completely indwells him. Has mouth speaking great things and blasphemies andpower for42 months. Makes war with the saints, overcomes them and power given to him over all the people.

(Rev 13:1-7)

Now seen as the
Revived Roman Empireand Antichrist

John's beast is a com-posite of the 4 great World Em-pires. One seeming dis-crepancy is that
Daniel's beast has 1 head and John's has 7. This is reconciled
when we realize John sees a "later stage" of the same beast. John's
beast picks up AFTER Daniel's little horn plucks out 3 horns (kings)
which leaves 7 heads (kings) beginning John's revelation.

Destruction of Colossus
The Stone: Colossus is destroyed by a stone cut from a mountain. The stone
becomes a mountain and fills the whole Earth. (Dan 2:31-35)

Destruction of Antichrist

He's cast into the Lake of Fire - alive

(Rev 19:20)

NOTES

The "Little Horn" was not revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, but was revealed to Daniel
and his people, the Jews.

THE LITTLE HORN When Daniel had the vision of "the Little Horn" he asked for clarification and he received another vision of
a Ram and a He-Goat two years after that of the 4 Beasts .In this vision, he was transported to Shushan, the capital of
Persia on the banks of the Ulai River. He saw a Ram with two horns push west, north and south unhindered. Then a
He-Goat from the West arrived with a "notable horn". The He-Goat charged the Ram, broke its two horns, knocked it down and stomped
on it. The He-Goat became strong and its GREAT HORN was broken off and was replaced
by four notable horns. Out of on of the four horns sprang a LITTLE HORN waxing great to the South, East and toward "Pleasant Land" (Palestine).

Daniel was still not completely clear so Gabriel told Daniel that
the vision belongs to the "Time of the End". Gabriel told him
that the Ram stood for the Medo-Persian Empire with its two horns representing two kings: Darius and Cyrus.
The He-Goat indicates the Grecian Empire. The GREAT HORN stood for Greece's first king, Alexander the Great. The four notable horns that appeared were the four kingdoms into which Greece was divided:
Thrace, Macedonia, Egypt and Syria. The final shock for Daniel
came when Gabriel showed him that the little horn he saw come
out of the four notable horns is the "King of a Fierce Countenance", the Antichrist. With that, Daniel fainted and was sick for days. (Dan 8:15-27)

In another vision 20 years later ,the land of origin for the Antichrist was revealed more clearly. Until this vision, Daniel only knew
he would come from either Macedonia, Syria, Egypt or Thrace. In
this vision, Daniel saw two kings at war. One was called the King
of the North (Syria), the other the King of the South (Egypt).
To fully understand, it should be noted that Paul also had a vision
of the Antichrist made known to his as "the wilful king".

What does that tell us about the Antichrist? Both descriptions of "the wilful king" (Dan 11:36) and "the little horn" (Dan 7:8; 8:9-12) show it to be the same person which tells
us the Antichrist will likely come from Syria.

The Antichrist is also referred to as The Assyrian (Isa 10:5,12, 24; 30:27-33), the King of Assyria (Isa 10:12), the King of Babylon (Isa 14:4-17) and the King of Tyrus. These all refer to the same person as these territories will
be combined in the days of Antichrist in his one-government rule.